Muslim scholar Reza Aslan: Rush Limbaugh and Sarah Palin would call Jesus a ‘Marxist’ (via Raw Story )
Religious scholar Reza Aslan said American conservatives are basing their criticism of recent comments made by Pope Francis on a “profoundly unhistorical view of Jesus.” The pontiff has ruffled the feathers of U.S. conservatives with comments suggesting…
for a few bucks, they'd call anyone anything
ReplyDeleteScholars are not even unanimous as to whether there was a historical Jesus.
ReplyDeleteI am of the opinion that what evidence there is suggests that it is most likely that he did not exist.
See Bart Ehrman, Did Jesus Exist?
ReplyDeleteScholars are not even unanimous as to whether there was a historical Jesus.
Ehrman, a top-ranked New Testament scholar, holds that the vast majority of scholars hold that there was a historical Jesus, but, there is a considerable disagreement over the details of his life, self-concept, and message.
Scholars distinguish between the historical Jesus and the mythical Jesus. Deconstructing their conflation over the centuries is a chief focus of scholars.
There is also the mystical Jesus as a supernatural figure or presence that has been attested to from his own day to the present based on non-ordinary experience. Some of these may be dismissed as pious over-exuberance or superstition (faces in clouds) but some is reported by the widely acknowledged saints and spiritual luminaries of many lands and traditions.
Because he is closer in time, there is more evidence for the existence of Jesus than Zoroaster, Rama, Krishna, Buddha, Lao Tzu, Mahavira. Knowledge of them is largely legendary and mythological, with little historical evidence if any historical evidence surviving the centuries.
Muhammad is closer to us than Jesus, but the details of his life are also largely traditional since Muhammad prohibited writing about him while he was living, or depicting him, a custom that Muslims still observe.
The preponderance of scholarly opinion is that through the mist of time and the legends and myths, all of these figures were historical and the outlines of their lives are visible, although not the details. While the orthodox of the various traditions take the historical and mythical personages to be identical, few scholars do.
@Tom Hickey Very well said. I agree with just about everything you wrote. But there are different teachings on the mystical nature of Jesus too. As a result, many scholars see no contradiction between the "mystical" and the "historical" Jesus.
ReplyDeleteYes, I am one of them. See my Who do you say I am? — Reframing Jesus in Light of Perennial Wisdom and The Gospel of Thomas. Free download in PDF or Word here. Scroll down to find the links.
ReplyDeleteThe majority of our populace is going to turn to a greater authority you know ... Sarah Palin.
ReplyDelete:(
http://jfkisgr8.blogspot.com/2013/11/three-years-old-sarah-palin-jokes-you.html
It simply doesn't matter what the intelligent say. ONLY what the bulk of the electorate hears.
Josef Palin: "How many propagandists do the intelligent command?"